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REGULATING THE IMPORTATION OF THE 
ADULT HONEYBEE (Apis Mellifica) 



HEARING 

BEFORE THE 

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY 
UNITED STATES SENATE 

ii S 

SIXTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS 
SECOND SESSION 

ON 



H. R. 11396 



an act to regulate foreign commerce in the 

Importation into the united states of 

the adult honeybee (apis mellifica) 



AUGUST 1, 1922 



Printed for the use of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. 



•f- 



WASHINGTON 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
4910 1922 



Tils 



COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY. 

GEORGE W. NORRIS, Nebraska, Chairman. 



CARROLL S. PAGE, Vermont. 
CHARLES L. McNARY, Oregon. 
ARTHUR CAPPER, Kansas. 
HENRY W. KEYES, New Hampshire. 
PRANK R. GOODING, Idaho. 
EDWIN F. LADD, North Dakota. 
PETER NORBECK, South Dakota. 
J. W. HARRELD, Oklahoma. 
"WILLIAM B. MCKINLEY, Illinois. 

Mabelle J. T albert, Clerk 
11 



ELLISON D. SMITH, South Carolina. 
JOSEPH E. RANSDELL, Louisiana. 
JOHN B. KENDRICK, Wyoming. 
PAT HARRISON, Mississippi. 
J. THOMAS HEFLIN, Alabama. 
THADDEUS H. CARAWAY, Arkansas. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
RECEIVED 

APR I 8 1924 




BEGULATING THE IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY- 
BEE (Apis Mellifica). 



TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1922. 

United States Senate, 
Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, 

Washington, D. C. 
The committee met, pursuant to call, at 2 o'clock p. m., in the room of the 
Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, Capitol, Senator Charles L. 
McNary presiding. 

Present: Senators Charles L. McNary; Arthur Capper, Kansas; Henry W. 
Keyes, New Hampshire ; Prank R. Gooding, Idaho ; Edwin F. Ladd, North Da- 
kota ; William B. McKinley, Illinois ; and John B. Kendrick, Wyoming. 
The Chairman. The committee will come to order. 

The meeting was called to consider H. R. 11396, an act to regulate foreign 
commerce in the importation into the United States of the adult honeybee 
(Apis mellifica), which bill may be inserted into the record at this point. 

[EL R. 11396, Sixty-seventh Congress, second session.] 

AN ACT To regulate foreign commerce in the importation into the United States of the 
adult honej'bee (Apis mellifica). 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Hotise of Representatives of the United States 
of America in Congress assembled, That, in order to prevent the introduction and 
spread of diseases dangerous to the adult honeybee, the importation into the 
United States of the honeybee (Apis mellifica) in its adult stage is hereby 
prohibited, and all adult honeybees offered for import into the United States 
shall be destroyed if not immediately exported : Provided, That such adult 
honeybees may be imported into the United States for experimental or scientific 
purposes by the United States Department of Agriculture : And provided, further, 
That such adult honeybees may be imported into the United States from 
countries in which the Secretary of Agriculture shall determine that no diseases 
dangerous to adult honeybees exist, under rules. and regulations prescribed by 
the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Agriculture. 

Sec. 2. That any person who shall yiolate any of the provisions of this act 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upOn conviction thereof, be 
punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment not exceeding one 
year, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the - discretion of the court. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 5, 1922. 

Attest : 

Wm. Tyler Page, Cleric. 

Gentlemen, Mr. Root is here ; and in a conversation with him a few days ago 
I asked him to keep down the number of witnesses as much as possible. 

Mr. Root. We have brought along two or three experts in our line so that the 
committee might ask questions if they care to do so ; but we would like the 
statement to be made by Doctor Phillips, of the Bureau of Entomology, our 
desire being to save the committee as much time as possible. 

The Chairman. We will be glad to hear Doctor Phillips. 

TESTIMONY OF DR. E. F. PHILLIPS. 

The Chairman. Doctor Phillips, please give the reporter your name and your 
position with the Department of Agriculture. 

Doctor Philips. E. F. Phillips, apiculturist. Bureau of Entomology, Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. 

4910—22 1 



2 REGULATING IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY BEE. 

Mr. Chairman, you have before you two bills, as I understand it, Senate bill 
3056 and House bill 11396. There is a slight amendment made in the House 
bill. Do you care to have that discussed now? 

The Chairman. You may go ahead and discuss it in your own way, Doctor. 

Doctor Phillips. In 1894 there broke out in the Isle of Wight, South of Eng- 
land, a disease of adult bees, which caused very serious losses. Almost im- 
mediately after the discovery of this disease it spread to Great Britain and 
has now been found in all parts of the British Isles. 

The cause of this disease was not known, and it was for a time attributed to 
a protozoan parasite, but later work lias developed that this is not the cause 
of the disease ; and in December of 1920 it was announced by Dr. John Rennie, 
of the University of Aberdeen, that the disease was caused by a mite, which 
gets into the respiratory tract of the honeybee and causes, first, paralysis, or 
inability to move freely, inability to fly, and ultimately causes death. 

Because of the ravages which this disease has caused in Great Britain we 
immediately began a search in this country to determine whether we had the 
disease here. We have had from time to time reports of the death of adult 
bees which, in many cases, have not been adequately explained, so during the 
summer of 1921 we requested beekeepers all over the country, through journals 
and by circulars, to send us samples of any bees which they found which were 
abnormal in their behavior. During 1921 they sent us samples from 37 States, 
and in none of those were we able to find the mite causing the Isle of Wight 
disease. We felt, since no reports had come of serious outbreaks of the disease, 
that we were in all probability free of this trouble, and we then wrote to one 
of the investigators in the University of Aberdeen and asked him to send us 
over some material for study. He very kindly did send us over a queen bee, 
with accompanying worker bees, in exactly the same way the queen bees are 
normally imported into this country. These bees came here alive, and the mites 
were alive ; so that if that shipment had gotten into the hands of the ordinary 
beekeeper who was not on the lookout for this disease, and he had introduced 
it into his colony, he would have introduced this disease into this country. 

The Chairman. Is this mite you speak of a microorganism? 

Doctor Phillips. No, but it is almost invisible. 

Senator Gooding. You say this bee was imported from England? 

Doctor Phillips. No, from Scotland. 

The Chairman. It is a germ, is it? 

Doctor Phillips. No, it belongs to the same group as the spider. It has 
eight legs, is normally very, very small and can barely be seen with the naked 
eye and, of course, to be identified and examined it has to be done microscopi- 
cally. 

The examination of material, suspected material, has gone on, and during 
the present year we are receiving even more samples than we did last year and 
so far we have found none of them from the United States infected with this 
parasite. 

Attention was called to our apparent freedom from the disease at the Christ- 
mas meeting of the association of economic etymologists at Toronto, and at 
that time the section of the association devoted to bee-keeping work appointed 
a committee, which Dr. S. B. Fracker, State entomologist of Wisconsin, was 
made chairman, the committee to take up consideration of what should be 
done. The committee held a conference here in Washington with members of 
our own bureau staff on March 9, at which time they decided that the situa- 
tion was quite acute and that something should be done to prevent the intro- 
duction of this disease, and the bill which you have before you is the result 
of the deliberations of the conference of that day. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, I could go on at some length and tell you what this 
disease does, but I should like to point out this one thing which I think is 
important in the present consideration, namely, that since the discovery of the 
cause of this disease it has been definitely possible to determine whether the 
disease occurs elsewhere, which was not possible previously. Since that time 
the disease has been found in three departments of France, two of the Cantons 
of Switzerland, and in Germany. Just how wide its distribution in Germany 
may be we do not yet know, but we do know that it is present in those three 
countries. In most of the countries of Europe no work has as yet been done to 
determine how widespread the disease is. 

The Chairman. How does the infection spread, Doctor? 

Doctor Phillips. It spreads from diseased bees to healthy bees by the mite 
simply crawling out of the respiratory tracts of the sick bees and getting into 
the respiratory tract of the healthy ones. 



REGULATING IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY BEE. 3 

The Chairman. Would it spread from community to community of bees if it 
were here? 

Doctor Phillips. Yes. Bees mix a good deal in their flight. Bees Erom one 
apiary very frequently go to another and go into the hives, so the disease 
would probably spread quite rapidly under those circumstances. 

The Chairman. What remedy do you prescribe for treatment of the disease? 

Dr. Phillips. No remedy lias been discovered for the disease, which is one 
of the reasons why we feel it so important to keep it out. 

Senator Gooding. It is pretty hard to reach, is it not? 

Doctor Phillips. Yes, it is. 

Senator Gooding. You can not dp them. 

Doctor Phillips. No, you can not dip .them and you can not gas them with- 
out affecting your bees. Destruction of the colony is the only thing that they 
are trying in Great Britain. 

Senator Gooding. Does it destroy a colony very quickly; does it wipe them 
out? 

Doctor Phillips. It wipes them out, yes. In a great many parts of Great 
Britain bees were exterminated by this disease. 

Senator Gooding. What action have you already taken to stop importation 
of the bees? 

Doctor Phillips. The Secretary of Agriculture requested the Postmaster 
General in March to prohibit the importation of queen bees by mail, which of 
course was the only thing he could do. That went into effect, prohibiting the 
importation by mail from all countries, except the Dominion of Canada. 

Senator Gooding. Then this bill would cover the rest of the countries? 

Doctor Phillips. Y"es, it will cover everything in addition. 

Senator Gooding. Then I am for the bill, Mr. Chairman. 

The Chairman. What number of queen bees are imported into this country 
annually? 

Doctor Phillips. It is impossible for me to answer that. 

The Chairman. Approximately. 

Doctor Phillips. A good many hundred. During the period of the war 
there were practically none, so that for a number of years the importation 
was at zero. 

Senator Gooding. What is it outside of Canada? 

Doctor Phillips. Canada has prohibited importation from Europe. 

Senator Gooding. She is able to do that without legislation at any time, is 
she not? 

Doctor Phillips. Yes, they simply did it by an act of the Governor General 
or by an order in council. Australia has done the same thing. The Union of 
South Africa has done the same thing and Jamaica has done the same thing. 

The Chairman. How long have entomologists recognized the existence of 
the disease, Doctor? 

Doctor Phillips. It was discovered in 1920. 

Senator Gooding. Mr. Chairman. I would like to be noted as being in favor 
of the bill. 

Senator Capper, Nobody is opposed to this legislation apparently. 

The Chairman. No one that I know of. 

Doctor Phillips. I would like to make a statement with respect to that. 
There was some opposition to this bill. When it was first proposed the opposi- 
tion originated in a native of Austria, who desired to import — that is, it was 
Austria previously, now Yugoslavia — who desired to import bees from his 
native country. He solicited the support in asking for a change in the bill — 
not to defeat the bill — but to change it — of the editor of the American Apiary 
Journal, one of our journals, and the journal, as I understand, wrote a letter 
to Senator Norris asking that certain modifications be made to this bill. As 
this bill was to be heard to-day I wired yesterday to the American Bee Journal 
asking them if they cared to be heard or to take any action in the matter, and 
I have here a telegram from the editor of the journal saying " Use your own 
judgment, I have no objection to raise myself." That is signed by Mr. Dadant. 
This would indicate that the objection has been met. 

Senator Capper. The Department of Agriculture favors this legislation. 

Doctor Phillips. There is a letter on record from the Secretary of Agriculture 
indorsing the bill. 

The Chairman. Senator Keyes, have you any questions to ask the doctor? 

Senator Keyes. No, Mr. Chairman. 

The Chairman. Senator McKinley? 

Senator McKinley. I have nothing to ask, Mr. Chairman. 



4 REGULATING IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY BEE. 

The Chairman. Then I imagine the committee is in favor of reporting the bill 
unanimously. 

Senator Capper. I move that the bill be reported favorably, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator Keyes. I will second that motion. 

The Chairman. Senator Kendrick, we are considering the bill as it passed 
the House, preventing importation of bees infected with the Isle of Wight dis- 
ease. We have heard testimony here favorable to the adoption of the bill, and 
the committee, being in favor of reporting it, was just about to conclude the 
hearing. Would you like to ask the doctor some questions about the bill? 

Senator Kendrick. I am certainly in favor of it, Mr. Chairman. I have some 
very strong appeals from the people of my State about it, and I see no more 
reason why we should deny the people of this industry protection than we 
would in any other kind of animal life. We would not think at all of allowing 
any live stock to come in here now with the foot-and-mouth disease or any other 
contagious disease, and it seems to me that this is as little as we can do to 
extend protection to this industry. 

The Chairman. Senator Capper has moved that we report the bill favorably. 

(The motion, having been duly seconded, was unanimously carried.) 

Senator Capper. This is the House bill you were refering to? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Senator Keyes. As I understand it, it is the bill in the form as passed by the 
House, rather than the Senate bill, which you prefer? 

Doctor Phillips. The Senate bill was amended at the suggestion of the House 
committee, which change simply removed certain restrictions ; but there is no 
change in the fundamental character of the bill, and the changes made have met 
with the approval of the department. 

Senator Keyes. Then the bill that we are reporting now is the House bill? 

Doctor Phillips. Yes. 

The Chairman. Senator Ladd, the committee has just voted on this bill favor- 
ably, and Doctor Phillips has made a statement to the committee. Have you 
any questions to ask him? 

Senator Ladd. No ; I accept the verdict of the committee and stand with the 
committee. 

Senator Capper. At what period of the year are these importations made 
specially ? 

Doctor Phillips. Mainly in the summer time. I would like to say. in view 
of the fact that we have prohibited the importation through the mails, that we 
know some men who are importing otherwise in order to get ahead of us. 

Senator Kendrick. W T here do most of the importations come from, outside 
of Canada? 

Doctor Phillips. Very few from Canada. The importations are mainly from 
Italy, Yugoslavia — principally the Province of Carnalia. 

Senator Kendrick. Don't you get a great many from China ? 

Doctor Phillips. Practically none. There was one shipment last year, the 
only shipment that I know of in years. 

The Chairman. This disease, you say, is found only on the Isle of Wight? 

Doctor Phhlips. No; it is France now, Switzerland, and Germany. We do 
not know to what extent it is spread in Europe, but those are the only places 
where an investigaton has been made. 

Senator Kendrick. What treatment are they giving it? 

Doctor Phillips. None. 

Senator Kendrick. They destroy the colonies? 

Doctor Phillips. They destroy the colonies to prevent the spread of it. 

Senator Kendrick. It spreads very easily? 

Doctor Phillips. Apparently it spreads very rapidly. It spread throughout 
Great Britain in just a few years. 

(The following documents were by the committee ordered printed as part of 

the record:) 

Department of Agriculture, 

Washington, April 21, 1922. 
Hon. George W. Norris, 

United States Senate. 
Dear Senator NOrris : In response to your verbal request to Dr. E. F. 
Phillips, of the Bureau of Entomology of this department, the following state- 
ment is being made regarding the importance of the protection of beekeeping 
in the United States against the Isle of Wight disease, which is contemplated 
in the proposed bill which has been presented to you by the committee of the 



REGULATING IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY BEE. 5 

Association of Economic Entomologists and the American Honey Producers' 
League. 

This disease was first discovered in the Isle of Wight in 1904 and spread 
with great rapidity throughout Greal Britain. It is now credibly reported 
from the French Alps and from Switzerland. Wherever this disease has ap- 
peared the losses of bees have been excessive, and no remedy has yet been 
found for the malady. In December, 1920, Dr. John Rennie and his associates, 
of the University of Aberdeen, announced that the cause of this disease is a 
mite, A carditis woodi, which invades the respiratory tract of adult bees, and 
later investigations have shown that this mite is always found in the diseased 
bees. 

On the announcement of this discovery the Bureau of Entomology made a 
survey to determine whether this mite is present in the United States, and 
during the summer of 1921 none of them were found. There has never been 
any disease of adult bees in the United States which compares in destructive 1 - 
ness with the conditions reported from Europe for this disease. There is 
good reason to believe that the Isle of Wight disease has not been introduced, 
and it therefore becomes important to safeguard the beekeeping interests of 
the country by preventing its introduction. The results of the work of the 
Bureau of Entomology are given in department Circular 21S, a copy of which 
is being inclosed. 

The honeybee is not native to America, and all the bees which are now in the 
United States have been obtained as a result of importations. So far as can 
at present be determined there is no need for further introductions, as the 
bees now in the United States have been improved by selection and are superior 
to most of the stock which has been introduced from time to time of recent 
years. The queen breeders of the country seem to be unanimous in believing 
that no harm will result if importations are prohibited. 

On March 10 a letter was written to the Postmaster General recommending 
that the postal regulations be amended to exclude from foreign mails for 
all countries except Canada all queen bees and their attendants. On this 
recommendation the Post Office Department has issued an order dated March 
21, 1922, which makes this prohibition, and the International Bureau at Berne 
has been asked to notify the countries of the Universal Postal Union of this 
amendment to the regulations. This precautionary measure will prevent the 
mailing of queen bees to the United States from Europe but will not prevent 
the bringing in of queen bees by means other than the mails. There is no 
legislation now in force which prevents such importations. Because of the 
expectation that the Dominion of Canada will take measures similar to those 
contemplated by the United States the post-office amendment makes it possible 
to receive queen bees in the mails from Canada, and the proposed bill drafted 
by the committee makes provision for similar exceptions. 

At the annual meeting of the agriculture section of the Association of Eco- 
nomic Entomologists at Toronto, Canada, in December, 1921, a committee with 
representatives from the United States and Canada was appointed to study 
this question to determine what steps should be taken to prevent the introduce 
tion of this disease. This committee had a conference with members of the 
staff of the Bureau of Entomology on March 9. and following this conference 
the committee drafted a proposed bill, a copy of which is in your hands. The 
American Honey Producers' League, the national organization of beekeepers, 
has appointed a representative to urge the passage of this bill. The bill has 
been examined by the solicitor of this department and has the indorsement of 
the department. 

The beekeeping industry of the United States is becoming more and more 
important every year and has assumed proportions which entitle it to every 
protection which can be given to prevent the introduction of injurious diseases. 
The annual honey crop of the United States is valued at about $75,000,000 
and there is room for still greater development. In addition to its value as 
a producer of honey, the honeybee adds greatly to our national wealth as an 
agent in the cross-pollination of fruits and other farm crops, this benefit 
doubtless exceeding in value the value of the honey crop. The Department of 
Agriculture is giving all the aid possible to this branch of agriculture through 
investigations of the best means of increasing the production of honey and the 
introduction of better methods of management. It seems quite proper, there- 
fore, that a bill of this character be passed in the further protection of this 
growing industry. 

Very truly yours, 

Henry Wallace, Secretary. 



6 REGULATING IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY BEE. 

[United States Department of Agriculture, Department Circular 218.^ 
The Occurrence of Diseases of Adult Bees. 
[E. F. Phillips, Apiculturist.] 

INTRODUCTION. 

The diseases to which adult honeybees are subject have from time to time 
been discussed in the American beekeeping literature, but so far there has been 
no serious and widespread outbreak of any such trouble and not nvuch work has 
been done in this country on the causes of these diseases. Because of the possi- 
bility of the introduction and establishment in the United States of another dis- 
ease of adult bees which seems to be serious in its nature, it seems best at this 
time to publish the information at hand regarding the apparent absence of this 
disease in the United States. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the status of 
adult bee diseases without reference to the details of work as to their causes. 
A list of citations is appended. 

ISLE OF WIGHT DISEASE. 

Isle of Wight disease is evidently a serious source of loss to beekeepers of the 
British Isles. It was first observed in 1904 in the Isle of Wight, hence the name, 
and in succeeding years it has spread with considerable rapidity to all parts of 
Grat Britain. Because of the large losses from this disease reported by British 
beekeepers, it has been the subject of investigation by several workers for a 
number of years. It has been called acarine disease in England, from the order 
name (Acarina) of the mite which causes it. 

Studies as to the cause. — At first a study was made of bacteria in the alimen- 
tary tract of the diseased bees, but this proved valueless in determining the 
cause. Later work indicated that the malady was due to the pathogenic action of 
Nosema apis, a protozoan parasite of the ailmentary tract of adult honeybees, 
described by Zander in 1909. This protozoan has been found to be widely dis- 
tributed in the United States and elsewhere throughout the world, without 
causing the serious conditions described for the Isle of Wight disease, and for 
this reason some doubt was cast on the results of the English workers in this 
field. Furthermore, the organism was found not to be present in all colonies 
suffering from Isle of Wight disease. Later, Anderson and Rennie called these 
results in question, without, however, giving the cause of the disease, but Nosema 
apis came to be looked upon as a relatively harmless parasite. In December, 
1920,, Rennie and his associates announced that the Isle of Wight disease is 
caused by the parasitic mite Tarsonemus ivoodi Rennie. and the results of their 
work were published early in 1921. Later the mite was placed in a new genus, 
Acarapis, by Hirst. 

Search for Isle of Wight disease in the United States. — During the period 
when the Isle of Wight disease was attributed to Nosema- apis there seemed to 
be no cause for alarm in the United States, but when this theory was disproven 
and another organism was given as the cause of the trouble, fears regarding 
the introduction of the disease were renewed. On the receipt of the published 
results of the work by Rennie, steps were at once taken to determine whether 
Acarapis woodi is present in the United States. Requests were sent out widely 
to beekeepers, asking that they send to the Bureau of Entomology samples of 
any adult bees which showed any unusual symptoms or any disease. During 
the summer of 1921 there were no reports from any part of the United States 
that indicated any serious diseases of adult bees. During the summer 200 
samples were received, all of which were examined for all known causes of 
diseases among adult bees. The examinations for the mites were made by J. B. 
Moorman, and A. P. Sturtevant examined the bees for Nosema apis. Certain 
samples were examined for arsenic, when there seemed reason to suspect poi- 
soning as the cause of death, this work being done by the Bureau of Chemistry. 
Table 1, prepared by Mr. Sturtevant, gives the results of the examinations : 



REGULATING IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY BEE. 
Table 1. — Remits of examinations of adult, bees. 



State or country. 


Counties. 


Towns. 


Nega- 
tive. 


Nosema 
apis. 


Not ex- 
amined 

for 
Nosema. 


Arsenic. 


Total. 




2 
1 

13 
2 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
6 
6 
4 
2 
1 
1 
4 
6 
1 
2 
1 
1 
7 
1 

13 
4 
8 
2 
4 

14 
1 
1 
1 
2 
3 
2 
4 
6 
5 
5 
1 
1 


2 
1 

16 
3 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
7 
6 
4 
2 
1 
1 
4 
6 
1 
2 
1 
1 
7 
1 

16 
5 
8 
2 
4 

16 
1 
1 
1 
2 
3 
3 
4 
9 
5 
5 
1 
1 


2 








2 






1 




* 1 




15 
3 

2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
5 
5 
6 
1 


4+1? 

2 

2 




20 
















4 








2 




1 






2 








2 






1 
1 




3 




2 
2 




8 






7 








6 




3 
1 






4 








1 




1 

7 
5 
1 
2 
1 
1 
5 
1 

10 
7 
8 
3 
3 

16 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
4 
4 
5 
4 
4 
2 






1 








1 


8 




3 




8 








1 










2 










1 










1 




1 




3 


9 






1 




9 

1? 
2 


1 




20 






8 


Ohio 






10 








3 




3 

2 






6 








18 








1 










1 










1 










2 


Texas 


1 






3 


Utah 






4 










4 




4 

1 
1 






9 








5 








5 








2 




1 






1 












Total (41) 


146 


161 


147 


45+2? 


4 


4 


202 







Since at the beginning of the examinations no specimens of Aearapis ivoodi 
had been seen by any of the workers in the United States, there existed some 
fear that they might in some way be overlooked. Through the courtesy of 
Prof. John Anderson, lecturer in beekeeping, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, 
two lots of bees suffering from the Isle of Wight disease were received and it 
was found that no difficulty exists in finding the mites when they are present. 
Not only are the mites themselves easily found on examining the tracheal tubes 
of the thorax, but the tracheal tubes are so discolored (as described by Rennie) 
as to make the detection of the infestation easy. 

While negative results on only 200 samples do not prove the absence of the 
mite in the United States, the wide distribution of the samples received and the 
apparent absence of any serious adult bee disease indicated that the Isle of Wight 
disease does not exist within the limits of the United States. Statements re- 
garding supposed cases of Isle of Wight disease have appeared in American bee 
journals from time to time, but there is nothing to support these diagnosis 
and such statements may be safely disregarded. It is desirable that further 
examinations be made as material is available. 

Introduction through queen-mailing cages. — The shipments made by Professor 
Anderson brought to light a fact of great importance. In the first shipment all 
the bees were dead on arrival and no live mites were discovered. The bees had 
been selected from a colony that was being robbed, and the bees were ap- 
parently old and worn out before being sent. The second shipment consisted 
of a queenbee and attendants in a queen-mailing cage, all but two of the worker 



8 REGULATING IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY BEE. 

bees reaching Washington alive. The queen was not found to contain mites. 
Many of the accompanying living worker bees were found to contain living" 
mites, showing conclusively that it is an easy matter to import the living mites 
to the United States. Living mites were found in worker bees after they had 
been dead for several days. 

Means of preventing introduction. — If the reports of the great losses caused 
by the Isle of Wight disease in Great Britain are credited, and if it be assumed 
that the mite is not present in the United States, there is reason to look on the 
introduction of these mites as a dangerous possibiliy. Since the mites are s<> 
readily imported through the shipment of queen bees through the mails, it 
is a matter of some surprise that the disease is not found and universally 
distributed here. While some of the earliest importations of bees to the United 
States were made from England, such as the introduction of Massachusetts 
in the seventeenth century, the recent shipments of queens have been from 
Carniola, Cyprus, the Caucasus (chiefly through France), but especially from 
Italy. Because of the newness of the discovery regarding the cause of the 
Isle of Wight disease, the absence of any record of the occurrence of the 
mite in Italy or elsewhere, on the continent of Europe a or Asia is without 
significance. There, of course, remains the possibility, but scarcely the proba- 
bility, that .the parasite is exceedingly local in its distribution, as stated by 
Rennie. This is supported by the belief of many British beekeepers that the 
disease was first limited to the Isle of Wight and then spread rapidly through 
the British Isle. It is now reported generally but not universally in those 
islands. 

The fact that this mite belongs to or is related to the genus Tarsonemus. 
suggests that it may be at some stage of its life history a plant feeder, yet 
its specialized structure (causing it to be put in a new genus by Hirst) may 
be taken as evidence against this view. The fact that all stages of the mite 
have now been found in the tracheal tubes of the honeybee thorax would sug- 
gest its strictly parasitic habit. 

The climatic conditions of the British Isles have been considered by some 
beekeepers as a contributing cause of the disease. While this is a possibility, 
unless the mite is associated with some species of plant which is limited 
in its distribution by these climatic conditions, this view is not probable. The 
fact that the honeybee so largely creates its own environment within the hive is 
against this view. Within the limits of the United States there is found such a 
diversity of climatic and floristic conditions that it would be impossible in the 
present state of knowledge regarding this disease to believe that the bees of 
this country are in no danger from this mite. While the work of Rennie and 
his associates bears evidence of thoroughness, there still remains the possi- 
bility that they are mistaken in attributing this disease to the mite. This possi- 
bility will be removed as work is done on this disease by other investigators. 
There is no question that the mite is present in colonies suffering from the 
disease. 

Since at present it would be indicated that the Isle of Wight disease is not 
present in the United States, probably not in North America, the question of 
preventing its introduction is an immediate one. The ease with which the 
parasitic mites may be carried in queen-mailng cages, the most lkely method 
of introduction, suggests the desirability of restricting or prohibiting the im- 
portation of queen bees. Restriction of importations of adult bees would entail 
considerable expense, since it would presumably be necessary to establish Gov- 
ernment quarantine apiaries located near one or more of the usual places of 
entry. 

Prohibition or restriction of importation of adult bees from the British Isles 
alone would be of little value, because of the ease with which queen bees and 
the accompanying workers could be sent to the Continent of Europe and re- 
shipped to evade the law. It would also be folly to assume, that the mite is 
restricted in its distribution to Great Britain until much more work is done 
on its distribution. Except during the period of the war. when importation 
of queens was almost impossible, a considerable number of queen bees have been 
sent to the United States every year for many years. Many of these queens 

1 In the January, 1922, issue of L'Apiculteur (vol. 66, No. 1, pp. 20-23) appears the 
announcement that the mite associated with the Isle of Wight disease has been found 
and determined by L. Berland, assistant in the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris), in 
bees sent through the editor of the above journal from the French Alps. The exact 
location is not recorded. 



REGULATING IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY BEE. 9 

are imported by beekeepers for tbeir own use, on the presumption that they 
can get better stock in Italy than they can in the United States — an entirely 
erroneous belief. Many are also imported by specialist beekeepers who make 
a business of raising queen bees for sale. These men should he breeding better 
bees, instead of sending to Italy annually for unselected material for breeding 
work, and it is probable that a prohibition of importation would actually be 
desirable from the point of view of compelling better breeding methods. There 
is, so far as known, no race or strain of bees anywhere in the world superior 
to those that have already been introduced, and no obvious advantages come 
from the repeated importation of queen bees. If a prohibition on importation 
seems desirable for the present, and if at some later time a better race of bees 
is found, provision might then be made for its importation under proper pre- 
cautions. Prohibition rather than restriction through quarantine woidd seem 
preferable because of the high cost of such regulatory measures. At present 
there is no law which would seem to cover this case, and new legislation will 
be required to safeguard the beekeeping industry of the United States from this 
pest. It would be quite possible to provide by law for either restriction or pro- 
hibition, with the understanding that for the present only prohibition would 
be enforced. In view of the possibility that desirable races of bees may be 
found after further explorations have been made, especially in Africa, such a 
double provision would be desirable. 

NOSEMA DISEASE. 

In 1909 Zander described a protozoan parasite which is found in the ali- 
mentary tract of the adult honeybee and to which he attributed serious losses 
to beekeepers in continental Europe. Zander was evidently misled as to its 
seriousness. Following the announcement of his findings, investigators in all 
parts of the world began a search for this parasite, and it was soon found 
in several places in the United States, in Australia, and in various parts of 
Europe. From these various investigations information regarding the life 
history of the parasite was obtained, although some curious mistakes of 
observation were made and the literature is not in agreement regarding it. 

As previously stated, some of the earlier work on the Isle of Wight disease in 
England indicated that it was caused by Nosema apis. This conclusion was 
reached by Fantham and Porter, although their work contained errors regard- 
ing the life history and led to considerable confusion. Assuming that the 
results of this work were correct, and knowing that Nosema- apis is a widely 
distributed parasite, those interested in bee-disease control naturally con- 
cluded either that the reports regarding Isle of Wight disease were grossly 
exaggerated or that the environmental conditions in the British Isles resulted 
in a more serious aspect of the disease than was observed elsewhere. Outside 
the British Isles there was no proof that Nosema apis caused great losses, 
although, perhaps misled by the work of Zander and Fantham and Porter, 
certain other investigators were led to attribute serious conditions to the 
organism. Those who knew the actual results of Nosema apis infection were 
inclined to question the results of the British investigators, and, as has been 
shown earlier, this work is now virtually disproven, in that the mite Acarapis 
woodi is now believed to be the cause of the Isle of Wight disease. 

While there is a disease of adult bees caused by the pathogenic action of 
Nosema apis, the wide distribution of the parasite in the United States and the 
absence of any serious disease of adult bees anywhere within this territory lead 
to the conclusion that the efforts to ascribe serious results to this organism are 
mileading. That a colony of bees may be weakened by heavy artificial infec- 
tion of the organism is by no means proof that the organism under usual 
conditions of the apiary ever leads to the death of a colony. In fact, so far 
as can be determined from the present evidence, it is doubtful whether a colony 
of bees free to fly is seriously affected by this parasite. Petersen observed 
many bees infected with Nosema spores, hut observed no pathogenic symptoms. 

The effects of food containing material which the bees are unable to digest, 
leading to the ordinary conditions of dysentery, and of various other envi- 
ronmental factors in permitting or encouraging the growth of the organism 
have not been adequately studied. Zander attributed an infectious dysentery 
to this organism, as distinguished from the ordinary dysentery with which 
beekeepers have long been familiar when the bees are wintered badly. It 
remains to be established whether conditions of ordinary dysentery are favor- 



10 



REGULATING IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY BEE. 



able to the growth of the organism, and whether it in turn causes certain 
additional conditions favorable to the death of the bees. Without wishing to 
underestimate the damage from Nosema apis alone, it is exceedingly doubtful 
whether it is the cause of a serious disease of bees. 

Various names have been given to the disease caused by this organism, such 
as Nosema disease (a translation of Zander's name Nosemaseuche), Microspori- 
diosis actually suggested as a substitute for the name Isle of Wight disease), 
nosemosis, infectious dysentery, and Noseniakrankheit. 

Distribution by years. — During the years 1912, 1913, and 1921 special requests 
were sent out to beekeepers asking for samples of adult bees that appeared 
to be suffering from some disorder. This fact accounts for the larger numbers 
of samples received during these years. Table 2 shows the results of the 
examinations of samples received, so far as the presence of Nosema ai>i* is 
concerned : 

Table 2. — Samples of Nosema disease, hi/ years.. 



Year. 


Nosema 
present. 


Nosema 
doubt- 
ful. 


Nosema 
absent. 


No diag- 
nosis for 
Nosema. 


Total. 


1910 



1 

35 

11 

5 
6 

20 
8 
5 
9 

45 







1 
2 
2 
1 


2 


6 
7 
49 
52 
14 
16 
31 
21 
20 
27 
22 
149 


13 
21 
16 
15 
9 
21 
4 
5 
1 
6 
1 
6 


19 


1911 


29 


1912 


100 


1913 


78 


1911 


23 


1915 


43 


1916 


43 


1917 


48 


1918 


30 


1919 


38 


1920 


32 


1921 


202 






Total 


145 


8 


414 


118 


685 







Certain samples have been received in such bad condition as to make exami- 
nation of any kind impossible. In other instances, samples were received in 
which the history did not indicate the necessity for laboratory examination. 
In recent years more care has been exercised in examining all samples of adult 
bees for the presence of Nosema apis, because of a desire to determine its dis- 
tribution. The majority of the samples tabulated have been examined by A. P. 
Sturtvant, apicultural assistant. From 1905 to 1909, previous to the description 
of Nosema apis, a few samples of adult bees were received, but as at that time 
no examination was made for this organism, these samples, 14 in all, are not 
included. 

Distribution by months. — Because of the possibility that Nosema disease is 
in some manner correlated with the activities of bees, and especially with the 
character of the food, it is desirable to present data as to the time of year at 
which the various samples have been received for examination. The dates used 
are those at which the samples reached the laboratory, which in a few cases 
might mean that they had been taken from the hives late the month preceding. 

Table 3. — Samples of Nosema disease, by months. 



Month. 


Number 
ofsamples 
exam- 
ined. 


Number 

with 
Nosema. 


Per cent 
ofsamples 
infected. 


Month. 


Number 
ofsamples 
exam- 
ined. 


Number 

with 
Nosema. 


Per cent 
ofsamples 
infected. 




n 

21 
37 
60 
146 

141 
112 
64 



1 
7 
14 
39 
33 
30 
8 



5 
19 
23 
27 
23 
27 
12 


September 


37 
23 
16 

17 


2 

3 

8 


5 











19 


April 

Mav 


December 

Total 


47 


685 


145 




Julv 




21 



















KEGULATING IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY BEE. 



11 



It would appear that there is more of this disease In early summer than at 
other times, but in BOine cases at least it is evident that the disease lias started 
during the winter and has not been detected until the bees have become active. 
Since some samples were sent on request at particular times, the numbers for 
the several months can not he taken as too definite. 

Geographical distribution. — Table 1 gives the distribution of 45 samples of 
Nosema disease received during the season of 1921. 

The small number of samples of Nosema disease which have so far been diag- 
nosed makes it impossible to draw definite conclusions regarding the geo- 
graphical ' distribution Of the disease. Samples have been received from .'!.'! 
States and from 3 Canadian Provinces. There is also in the record a sample 
from Canada without information as to the Province from which it came. 

Table3. — The distribution of Nosema <lixca.se by Slates. 



North Carolina 4 

Ohio 9 

< >regon 6 

Pennsylvania 3 



Rhode Island- 
South Dakota- 
Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah 

Vermont 

Virginia 

Washington- 
West Virginia- 
Wisconsin 

Wyoming 



Total 145 



California 9 

Colorado 2 

Connecticut C 

Florida 4 

Georgia 2 

Idaho 2 

Illinois 6 

Indiana 3 

Iowa 5 

Kansas 4 

Kentucky 2 

Massachusetts 2 

Michigan 14 

Minnesota 2 

Missouri 1 

Nebraska 1 

New Jersey 3 

New York 21 

The listing of these records by States fails to show the distribution by bee- 
keeping regions. The clover region has furnished far more samples than any 
other. The alfalfa region shows comparatively little of the disease, while the 
sage and willow-herb regions of the West, in proportion to their sizes, show as 
much of the disease as does the clover region. The Southeastern States show 
few records. 

The time of the year at which the samples have reached the laboratory from 
the various regions might throw some light on the character of the disease, as 
is the case with the records of European foulbrood. Because of the scant num- 
ber of records, nothing definite can be learned from such an examination, but 
it seems probable that outbreaks of the disease may be expected more com- 
monly in the Southern States during the winter and early spring. No samples 
have been received from this region during late summer. This suggests a rela- 
tionship between wintering and Nosema disease. 

Prevention of spread. — While it would seem possible for Nosema apis to re- 
main virulent in honey for a short time, the danger of introducing Nosema 
disease to an apiary through honey as a carrier seems slight, especially in view 
of the fact that the organism is destroyed by the amount of heat to which 
honey is usually exposed in the process of bottling. The most probable means 
of distributing the organism to new locations would seem to be through the 
shipment of living bees. Obviously any precautions taken against the intro- 
duction of Isle of Wight disease by the restriction or prohibition of the im- 
portance of living adult bees would seem to be adequte to keep out any further 
introduction of Nosema disease, but the present wide distribution of Nosema 
disease, and especially its mild character, would seem to make unnecessary any 
quarantine measures against it alone. 



ARSENICAL POISONING. 



Most of the samples that have been received at the Bureau of Entomology 
have not been examined for the presence of arsenic, but in a few instances, 
where the history of the case suggested this as a possible cause of the trouble, 
examinations have been made through the courtesy of the Bureau of Chemistry. 



12 REGULATING IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY BEE. 

It is not the purpose of the present discussion to take up the question of the 
losses incident to the poisoning of bees by ill-advised applications of poisonous 
materials in sprays used for the control of insect pests. There is reason r<> 
think that in some instances serious results have come from this us.- of arsenic. 
Aside from Isle of Wight disease and Nosema disease, this is the only other 
cause of death of adult bees which at present can be determined by laboratory 
methods. 

NEGATIVE RESULTS. 

The most regrettable fact about the data so far obtained on the diseases of 
adult bees is that so many of the samples have given negative results. This is 
due partly to the fact that certain diseases of adult bees exist for which the 
causes have not been determined. The serious nature of the diseases of the 
brood of bees has made it necessary that more attention he given to these, 
and while the causes of the three diseases of the brood have been learned, little 
good work has as yet been done on the diseases of adult bees. 

Attention should be called to the fact that many samples have been received 
which could not be diagnosed by laboratory methods. The greatest abnormal 
death of colonies of bees is doubtless due to poor wintering or to losses in- 
directly to be attributed to this cause. The conditions known to beekeepers 
as dysentery is caused by an accumulation of feces in the alimentary tract, 
due to a poor quality of food and to a rapid accumulation due to excessive 
heat generation made necessary by improper care in winter. These conditions 
have been fully discussed in the publications of the United States Department 
of Agriculture on wintering. In some instances it is possible to surmise that 
the samples of dead bees have been taken from colonies that have died because 
the beekeeper did not take proper care of his bees in winter, but proof from 
laboratory diagnosis would be difficult or impossible. When bees are received 
in early spring which show a large volume of feces, this diagnosis is rather 
definite. 

A large number of cases possibly arise from the death of colonies observed 
after brood-rearing has begun in the spring, and this the beekeeper usually calls 
spring dwindling rather than winter loss. It has been shown that the death of 
bees after brood-rearing is under way in the spring is also a result of poor 
wintering, and should properly be so diagnosed. There is no other known cause 
of the condition known as spring dwindling. While laboratory proof of such a 
condition is difficult, the well-known deficiency in winter protection, so prevalent 
throughout the United States, suggests this as a major cause of the death of bees 
submitted for examination. This has been recognized elsewhere than in the 
United States, for in the work on the Isle of Wight disease in England it was 
found desirable to eliminate bees dying from exhaustion, and Mrs. Pixell- 
Goodrich has worked out methods for the determination of death from old age. 
It is out of the question to submit all the samples received by the Bureau of 
Entomology to the tests which she has described, but there can be no question 
that death from quite natural causes induced by poor care is often mistaken 
by beekeepers for the work of some disease. 

Eyen though we eliminate the cases where there is reason to suspect poor 
care as the cause of death of adult bees, there still remain cases where evidence 
exists that death is due to some disease which can not be diagnosed in the 
laboratory at present. Cases which answer to the usual description of the so- 
called bee paralysis can not be diagnosed in the laboratory because there is 
stUl doubt as to the cause or causes of the trouble. According to Turesson 
this disease is due to the molds which bees sometimes get in their food under 
unsatisfactory conditions in the hive, such as those of damp hives in winter. 
Whether there is more than one condition which is put under this name by 
beekeepers is still a matter of doubt. Other names have been given by bee- 
keepers to abnormal death of adult bees, among which may be mentioned May 
disease (rarely used in the United States) and disappearing disease. The 
multiplication of names without adequate descriptions of symptoms or some 
other means of differentiating the disease has nothing to commend it, and 
beekeepers will do well to avoid the making of new and confusing names for 
adult bee diseases. 

A serious difficulty arises from the fact that the symptoms observed for 
almost all the conditions which cause the abnormal death of adult bees are 
much alike. Even for Nosema disease, the cause of which is known, there 
is no definite description of symptoms, and this is likewise to a considerable 
degree true of the Isle of Wight disease. Abnormal bees behave much alike. 



REGULATING IMPORTATION OF THE ADULT HONEY BEE. 13 

whatever the cause of the abnormality, and the descriptions of characteristic 
symptoms for the several diseases is exceedingly, difficult. Symptoms of adult 
bee diseases can not be described from the appearance of the dead bees, as 
is the case with the brood diseases. 

Post Office Department, 
Washington, March 2J/, 1922. 
Hon. Henry Wallace, 

Department of Agriculture. 
My Dear Mr. Secretary: I have the honor to. acknowledge the receipt or 
your letter of March 16 concerning the question of prohibiting the importation 
of honeybees in the mails from all foreign countries except Canada, and to 
inclose a copy of the notice of this office of March 21, providing for such prohi- 
bition, cablegram having been sent the International Bureau at Berne, request- 
ing that the countries of the Universal Postal Union be notified of the prohi- 
bition. 

By direction of the Postmaster General. 

Edwin Sands, Superintendent, 
(For the Second Assistant Postmaster General.) 



Washington, March 21, 1922. 
Owing to the prevalence of a serious disease, known as Isle of Wight disease, 
among adult honeybees in certain foreign countries, the importation of honey- 
bees through the regular and parcel-post mails is hereby prohibited. 

Owing to the precautions taken by the authorities in Canada to guard 
against the spread of the disease among adult honeybees in that country, this 
prohibition does not apply to bees imported from Canada. 

E. R. White, 
Acting Second Assistant Postmaster General, 

(Whereupon the committee adjourned to meet at the call of the chairman.) 



X 



